When we opened "Journey to the West", have you ever thought that this is not just a story of gods and demons adventures, but a metaphorical work about everyone's inner practice?
You may ask, how did a monk who took three apprentices to the West Heaven to learn scriptures become my life? Don't worry, and let me take my time.
We have to understand that the five main characters in "Journey to the West" actually represent different aspects of a person. Tang Seng represents our body, Sun Wukong is our heart, the white dragon horse symbolizes righteousness, Zhu Bajie represents desire, and Sha Monk is sex. These five characters seem to be independent, but in fact they are a whole, just like each of us, composed of physical and mental desires.
Let's start with Monkey King. Do you remember why he made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace? Because I was not invited to the Peach Club. Isn't this the unwillingness and arrogance in our hearts? When we feel neglected and despised by us, the inner "monkey" will be furious. Look at Zhu Bajie again, he was demoted because he was drunk and molested Chang'e at the Pan Tao Club. Isn't that what happens when we indulge our desires? As for the sand monk breaking the glass cup and being degraded, it may symbolize the mistakes we made on the spur of the moment.
Interestingly, all three characters are punished for the Pan Tao Society, implying that they are actually different aspects of the same person. Isn't this exactly a portrayal of us "falling into the dust" at different stages of our lives for various reasons?
Let's take a look at the origin of Sun Wukong. "The great sage escaped from the gossip furnace, and the ape was set under the Five Elements Mountain", the "heart ape" here refers to our restless heart. And the place where Sun Wukong first practiced was called "Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Leaning Moon Three Star Cave", this place name hides a mystery, in fact, it is the word "heart". The whole Journey to the West is about the process of cultivating this heart.
On the way to learn the scriptures, Tang Seng drove away Sun Wukong several times, respectively because of the killing of six robbers, the wrongful killing of three white bone spirits and the six-eared macaque. The names of these six robbers correspond to the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, which are exactly what Buddhism calls the "six roots". Only with the "six roots of tranquility" can we truly embark on the path of cultivation. Doesn't this tell us that we need to control our sensual desires in order to achieve inner peace?
As for the seven spider spirits that I met later, they symbolized the "seven feelings", and they spun silk and knotted their webs, just as we are often trapped in the web of emotions. Only by "opening the net of desire and jumping out of the prison of love" can we continue to move forward.
The 81 difficulties in "Journey to the West" are not set at random. In Buddhism, 81 represents the square of 9, suggesting the different levels and stages of practice. It's like all the challenges we encounter in life, and every one of them is an opportunity to grow.
Finally, when the four masters and apprentices finally obtained the scriptures, they found that the scriptures were blank. This detail reveals to us that true wisdom lies not in seeking from without, but in awakening within oneself.
Through this interpretation, we can find that "Journey to the West" is not only a mythical story, but also an allegory about life, cultivation and self-growth. It tells us that life is a journey of learning from the West, full of challenges, but also full of hope. Each of us is a Tang monk in our own life, with the inner Wukong, Bajie and Sha Seng, looking for our own "true scriptures" in the "West Heaven" of reality.